Chargers eke out 2 wins at Ashbrook

Crest’s Caleia Jones tries to maintain possession as Ashbrook’s Meredith Love, left, and Gabrielle Williams reach in during their game at Ashbrook on Friday.

Ben Goff/Halifax Media Group

By Phillip Gardner

Published: Friday, December 14, 2012 at 11:01 PM.

GASTONIA — If this is the way the Big South 3A Conference is going to be all season, fans are in for a treat.

Crest won a pair of thrillers at Ashbrook’s Rhodes Gymnasium on Friday as the boys rallied in the final minute to claim a 56-53 win while the Crest girls held off the Green Wave 54-51 to win the Big South openers for both schools.

The Crest boys (3-2, 1-0 Big South) trailed by 10 late in the third quarter and still faced a 53-49 deficit with 1:27 left before storming back. A 3 by Tyreze Meeks cut it to one with 58 seconds left, a pair of free throws by Dominique Roseboro gave Crest a 54-53 lead at the 33-second mark and a steal and layup by Roseboro with five seconds remaining gave Crest its final margin.

Ashbrook called timeout and ran a play in the final 3.7 seconds, but Antonio Blalock’s running 3-pointer banked off the glass and glazed off the iron as time expired.

Jerrick Haynes scored 22 points, including seven in the fourth quarter, to lead Crest, which was predicted by the coaches to finish fourth in the Big South — two spots behind Ashbrook. Damarcus Smith added 10 points and Roseboro and Christian Creswell six points each for the Chargers.

Ashbrook (4-4, 0-1 Big South) hit eight 3-pointers, including four in the third quarter to start pulling away. But after handing Shelby its first loss a night earlier, the Green Wave couldn’t hold on against another Cleveland County foe.

GASTONIA — If this is the way the Big South 3A Conference is going to be all season, fans are in for a treat.

Crest won a pair of thrillers at Ashbrook’s Rhodes Gymnasium on Friday as the boys rallied in the final minute to claim a 56-53 win while the Crest girls held off the Green Wave 54-51 to win the Big South openers for both schools.

The Crest boys (3-2, 1-0 Big South) trailed by 10 late in the third quarter and still faced a 53-49 deficit with 1:27 left before storming back. A 3 by Tyreze Meeks cut it to one with 58 seconds left, a pair of free throws by Dominique Roseboro gave Crest a 54-53 lead at the 33-second mark and a steal and layup by Roseboro with five seconds remaining gave Crest its final margin.

Ashbrook called timeout and ran a play in the final 3.7 seconds, but Antonio Blalock’s running 3-pointer banked off the glass and glazed off the iron as time expired.

Jerrick Haynes scored 22 points, including seven in the fourth quarter, to lead Crest, which was predicted by the coaches to finish fourth in the Big South — two spots behind Ashbrook. Damarcus Smith added 10 points and Roseboro and Christian Creswell six points each for the Chargers.

Ashbrook (4-4, 0-1 Big South) hit eight 3-pointers, including four in the third quarter to start pulling away. But after handing Shelby its first loss a night earlier, the Green Wave couldn’t hold on against another Cleveland County foe.

“Their dribble penetration got us most of the night,” Ashbrook coach Chad Duncan said. “As much as we stopped it yesterday (in a win at Shelby), it was not there today.”

Delshon Leach had with 19 points, seven rebounds and four steals for Ashbrook, which visits North Gaston on Tuesday. Trey Dellinger added 12 points.

Crest continues Big South action Tuesday when it hosts Forestview.

Girls: Crest 54, Ashbrook 51 — The preseason league favorites came dangerously close to dropping their first conference game.

But Crest, playing without starting center Se’Dasia Love, hit the shots it needed to pull out a 54-51 win at Ashbrook on Friday.

“We found a way to win without a major starter,” first-year Crest coach Shane Compton said. “And we did it on the road.”

For a while, it looked as Crest could avoid the late-game drama as Crest led 19-9 early in the second quarter. But that’s when Ussery picked up her third foul, a development that Compton said changed the game as Ashbrook roared back and took a 20-19 lead into halftime.

The Chargers retook control in the third quarter for a 34-27 advantage heading into the final period.

Alexis Wallace’s putback and free throw tied the game at 44 with 2:28 left, but Crest answered immediately with a deep 3 by Chozie Hunt. Moments later, Logan Carter matched Hunt’s range with a 3 from the right wing to pull Ashbrook back within one at 48-47 with 1:42 left but the Green Wave climbed no closer as Crest hit six of nine free throws down the stretch to pull out the victory.